


This Much Is True

by Hesesols



Series: Eclipse [11]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Regency, Background Ishihime if you squint, F/M, Jane Austen Quotations, Pride & Prejudice AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:28:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25979734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hesesols/pseuds/Hesesols
Summary: Day18of Ichiruki month 2020"To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love."- Jane Austen, Pride & Prejudice
Relationships: Kuchiki Rukia/Kurosaki Ichigo
Series: Eclipse [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1757437
Comments: 15
Kudos: 20
Collections: Ichiruki Month!





	This Much Is True

_"To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love."- Jane Austen, Pride & Prejudice_

.

.

.

The music that plays for the set is very much to her taste. The many dancing couples in the ballroom- smiling faces, the happy flush of exertion on their cheeks- Rukia smiles, short-lived delights at the joyous ambience and joins the line of dancers.

"The music is very lively. I daresay Mr. and Mrs. Ishida have outdone themselves for the Winter Ball. Do you enjoy dancing, Mr. Kurosaki?"

Her dance partner is tall, with none of the awkward gait that she has come to associate with someone of his height and stature. But his face- the handsomeness of it is offset by the severe set of his brows and the deep frown on his lips. It makes him look equal parts stern and miserable, and rest assuredly that misery has no place on an occasion so lively.

Why frown and scowl when there's a song and a dance to be had?

"Sometimes."

A pause.

They pivot- switching partners, turning- movements timed to that of the flourish of the string quartet.

A most taciturn man indeed, she thinks to herself as she purses her lips.

"It's your turn to say something, Mr. Kurosaki," she archly prompts.

"Oh. But you seem to do enough of the talking for the both of us, Miss Kuchiki. By all means do continue."

She frowns, almost missing a step.

Ah, she stands corrected. Perhaps it is better that he keeps his silence as his words seem to only irk, even if one was of an obliging nature as she is.

She has heard rumours of course of his sullen disposition, his unimpressed look that halted merriment dead in its tracks upon his arrival at the Assembly, the haughtiness of his manners when he spends the entire evening only but uttering monosyllabic replies to his host, but never had she the misfortune of seeing it for herself- the true extent of his … _unpleasantness_.

Her peers have declared him to be a most odious man indeed and though rich in fortune and favourable in the tilt of his chin and the lines of his face, the man is far too conceited for his own good. He is at once too proud due to his distinguished birth and title and as consequence of it, woefully arrogant, consumed by his thoughts of self-importance.

Rukia in this case, is much inclined to agree. She decides easily enough that though Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki, master and lord to the sprawling Shiba Estate that is said to generate an annual income of fifty thousand pounds and upwards- is by no means needy or in want of anything at all (except maybe of a wife, but _that_ is a different matter altogether), his manners are sorely lacking. How unfair it is that society so easily excuses his strange, rude behaviours under the guise of eccentricity simply because he is handsome, rich and powerful.

.

"Tell me, Mr. Kurosaki, do you find me too loquacious for my own good? Is that disagreeable to you?"

The look in his eyes darkens.

"You misunderstand me and my words, Miss Kuchiki. It is not my intention to offend you."

"Pray tell, Mr. Kurosaki. What is your intention then?"

Rukia would be the first to admit that she is more than a little mystified by the suddenness of his appearance at the Ishida's Winter Ball. If what they say is true, she doesn't think that the young master of the Shiba Estate would want anything to do with the country people of Karakura at all, much less ask for a dance from her.

Still, he asked- albeit a little stiffly under the watchful gaze of so many interested parties, societal manners dictate that she must accept or risk seeming rude.

And now their fingers are touching, separated if only by the lace of her gloves and she is still no closer to understanding him or his motives.

"My intentions are the same as they have been since the start of this evening. Surely you must know?"

She quirks an eyebrow.

"But I do not, Mr. Kurosaki. Would you not enlighten me?"

The corners of his mouth twitch and Rukia thinks there is something there- a softness to his gaze, a hint of hesitance in his touch. It is enough to surprise her when he leans in to tell her.

"To ask you for a dance."

.

.

.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Tradition
> 
> Pride and Prejudice AU. This ballroom scene is easily one of my favourites- the one where they spin and suddenly there's only them in the room. Yeah, I think about it a lot.
> 
> The proper response according to P&P (2005), when Lizzie asked Darcy does he dance is: not if I can help it.
> 
> PSA: Pride and Prejudice is fine and all but my fellow IR shippers _please_ consider this: Rukia as Emma; best friends since forever with neighbourhood gentleman Ichigo (Mr. Knightley), who fancies herself a matchmaker in the making. The Story practically writes itself!


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